still snowing in most area there and it will continue to snow in upstate new york all the way into maine. we have coastal advisories in parts of new jersey, connecticut, massachusetts, as 18-foot waves are crashing onshore. so stay away from those waves even though it's wintertime. almost hurricane-force winds in some places. alina. >> chad myers, graeat to see yo. thank you. that's all for us today. thanks for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm alina cho. i'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. eastern and again at 11:00 a.m. eastern. "cnn newsroom" with suzanne malveaux starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

welcome to "cnn newsroom." i'm suzanne malveaux. we're keeping you updated on the news here in the united states and around the world. former egyptian president hosni mubarak being transferred to a hospital for medical treatment. the country's state prosecutor ordered the transfer. mubarak is serving life in prison for his role in the killing of demonstrars in egypt's recent demonstration. ian is live in cairo. ian, what are we learning about mubarak's condition right now? >> reporter: suzanne, right now he's in stable condition. he's had three fractured ribs after slipping in the bathroom. the general prosecutor ordered that he be taken from torah prison to a military hospital for more specialized treatment for his condition. his lawyer told us that he has been angry with the fact that mubarak hasn't been getting treatment he believes he deserves in the prison hospital,

so he's glad to see that mubarak is moving to the military hospital. >> and , ian, do we expect that anybody is reacting to his condition? is anybody payingny attention to him now that he's serving life in prison? >> definitely he's such a large figure in egyptian society people still talk about him on a daily basis. people will be watching this closely. i also want to bring up on the last -- on december 23rd his lawyer appealed the ruling against his life sentence and we're expecting an answer or the court to rule on that later next month, and that will be a big day for egyptians as well. so people are definitely watching his condition as well as his ongoing court case, suzanne. >> and, ian, last question, because of his medical condition could he be released from prison per se and stay at home or stay at the hospital and be cared for

in some other way serving his term? >> reporter: it would be very unlikely because the decision would be so unpopular. people are by and large happy to see him behind bars. they do believe he's responsible for the killing of protesters. i don't think any political figure would want to make that sort of decision to have him go home and live the rest of his days out on bed rest, but i just want to throw out there that his father is rumored to have lived over 100. and mubarak is still in his mid-80s. so this is a man who has longevity in his family. >> all right. ian lee, thank you very much. appreciate it. president obama back in washington today to tackle the so-called fiscal cliff. he landed about 30 minutes ago. you see him getting off of the air force one. the president shut his vacation short do deal with this economic crisis. according to a tweet from a white house spokesman, the president spoke with all four congressional leaders before leaving hawaii for washington,

and the senate is reconvening today. now the automatic spending cuts and the tax increases that make up the fiscal cliff, they're set to take effect in just five days. much more on the fiscal cliff crisis, the effort to reach some kind of agreement later this hour. we're going go live to capitol hill for the latest as the senate returns to work. that is coming up in about 20 minutes. and president obama's going to have another cabinet position to fill for the new year. we learned a short time ago apa lisa jackson is stepping down after the president's state of the union speech in january. jackson starting with the agency as a staff level scientist back in 1987. during her tenure as administrator she tackled pollution problems in poor community communities. oil drilling and coal regulations. all those things on her plate. jackson said she is confident epa is headed in the right

direction. winter storm causing some real headaches. millions of folks in the mid-atlantic states, we're looking at heavy snow, torrential rain, strong winds, dangerous travel conditions from here, washington, d.c., all the way to maine. snowfall is especially heavy in northern new york, new england. up to a foot of snow could fall there. drew cuomo is urging folks to stay off the road if possible. it is wet, lever, raising the risk of falling tree limbs, making shoveling the sidewalk harder, we all know that. the storm is not expected to leave the region until tomorrow. not soon enough for millions of people trying to catch a plane for the holiday week, but they can't. more than 360 flights have been canceled so far today. now that is on top of the more than 1,700 flights that were scrapped yesterday. there are also plenty of delays, the longest at the airports in

new york and boston. but people flying out of washington and philadelphia can also expect some delays. same winter storm system that is covering upstate new york in snow sent tornadoes ripping through the deep south. i want you to take a look at this. this is from surveillance cameras at a walgreens. this is in mobile, alabama. you have cars and trucks tossing cars around like toys in the parking lot. >> i haven't been in a war zone but i'm sure this is what it looks like. a bunch of tin, all this stuff after the building s lying in te parking lot. i'm thankful i'm alive. if it would have been a hundred yards the other way, it would have ripped through the middle of the store. >> two dozen homes in mississippi were damaged or destr destroyed. at least 25 people were hurt. i want to bring in chad myers. i can't imagine you would realize it would be such a busy day during the holiday week

here. but we're talking about severe weather across the country. what do we see in the next 24 hours? >> it's still going to be -- i don't want to say severe because that's reserved for tonighted, hail, damaging winds. but suh r severe in that we're going have heavy winds slowing down the airports maybe as far south as baltimore as wind gusts are 30 miles an hour there. the biggest delays at la gar ya are due to construction. an hour 10, an hour 25, that's in and out delays. if you're coming in, your plane may still be able to kelkt because it's late in leaving. you might take some patience. i had to be evacuated from the south terminal because of a bomb threat and you have 2,000 people having to go back through the security at the same time. that's when you needed a lot of patience, suzanne. >> thank god, chad.

i get to stay here for a couple more days. don't have to worry about that travel mess if a little while. i want you to see this story. this caught our attention. this is pretty amazing, also pretty scary. this is an enormous indoor aquarium in china that that without any warning it shatters. this is in shanghai. it's very popular at the mall here. it's got turtles and sharks and 33 tons of glass and water all over the place. amazingly nobody was killed but 16 were hurt. tell us a little bit about why you suppose this happened. does this have anything to do with temperature or how do people explain it? >> i'll never look at an aquarium the same again. this was a ten-inch piece of plate glass that exploded literally. people said there was a crack. all of a sudden after the crash the water rushed out and it sounded like an explosion. what investigators now believe

happened here is the tank had very warm water in it. the outside temperature, although this is in a mall, this was the outside-facing glass. you can see there are trees there. this was in the cold part of the mall, kind of the outside exposure. temperatures got down into the 20s. not like i had never gotten into the 20s before but this here with the warm on the one side, the water, the cold on the other side, they believe a fault in the glass, a scratch, obviously something -- they can't find it because the glass is destroyed -- cause thad to happen. 15 were injuries and all the sharks and the fish unfortunately didn't make it. i don't believe they're going to rebuild it. it's a challenge from the warm and the cold. the glass couldn't take it and it snapped. i was in atlanta this christmas and the kwar yums down there are

outside and inside but it was warm on both sides. >> it's the kind of thing you go to the aquarium and you imagine that happening. the worst possible scenario that you could actually see that occur, really kind of scary. thank got it's an aberration. it doesn't happen that often. we'll see you. the diplomats push for the end of the civil war in syria. watch this. this is actually the scene from the ground. peace cannot come fast enough for civilians in syria. russia may soon ban american adoptions. they're opposing adoptions including this woman who has her own inspiring story. we're going to take you to the dep caratic republican of the congo for look at the competition to keep up

appearances. mocratic republicane congo for look at the competition to keep up appearances. so, this board gives me rates for progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. time for citi price rewind.

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♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. look, look. >> this is syria today. government war plains bombed the

city of homs. it happened in alep powe as well. at least 80 people are reported dead across the country today. air strikes like these or in street fighting. these twin boys were among the 160 people killed in syria yesterday. it is so tragic. this is where they died. the man who shot this video said that syrian military artillery hit their home. it happen add few miles from where more than a hundred civilians died in a government air strike just a few days ago. a man sent to syria to try to negotiate the end to the civil war says it could be over in a come of months. he's meeting with both sides in damascus, the rebels as well as the leaders. he speaks for thenited

nations, not just syria. >> translator: some say i have come here to market a russian american project. i wish i could. there is no russian american problem so hence i did not come to market it. >> i want to bring in richard ross. brahimi is somebody who's very well respect bud somebody who's optimistic. when he says he thinks the civil war could be over in a few months, what is behind that? >> reporter: he's trying to be practical. i think it's like saying the differences in the u.s. congress over the fiscal cliff could be settled if. that's what he's really saying in this press conference in damascus. the elements are there under plan world powers agreed to back in jeune. but, of course, getting agreement if there fr. the assad side and the rebels the and the government, that's a tall order. he's an experienced negotiator. there seems to be some momentum

with a flurry of talks and shuttle-type dip ploemmy but he still said and lamented syria is deteriorating rapidly. and as he said there's no u.s./russian plan. there may be discussions on options. can will there a transitional government formed and then elections but we're still not at that stage yet, suzanne. >> do we think he's bringing anything to the table that kofi annan did not who failed in brings these sides together? >> yes. and in failed, it may be a matter of timing. certainly the matter of violence has an eastbound. 40,000 report lid dead. brahimi has not had that success either but he's plugging away. he's been the man in the field from the u.n. from haiti to yemen. he's not going to give up at the moment, but the key is russia perhaps may be pulling slightly away from president assad, wa

wanting to get something resolved but moments ago it was said that the plan that brahimi said could happen in a few months. those same games going on in the diplomatic front. >> we've seen this. we've seen reports from others including arwa damon, the civilians who have died in the air strikes outside of the bakeries just to get bread. the amount of casualties. i mean in the hundreds now. just looking at the carnage and the numbers and just the loves lost, does that make this peace talk and this deal even more urgent that people are saying, look, something's got to give here? something's got to be done? >> we receive another crisis that no matter how high the death count, sometimes there's movement after one heavily

visualized atrocity. but even brahimi says let's focus on the death count. people are starving. people are taking up -- chopping up desk for wood for their families. he says this is the media of what's happening in syria. there are half a million refugees help's not losing sight of it but president assad does not seem to care much. they're not ready to agree to any peace deal as long as assad is in the picture even as a figurehead it appears before any elections. >> richard please keep us posted. appreciate it. it is back to work for president obama. he's cutting his vacation short. time is running out to avoid the big tax increases, the spending cuts that everybody is asking can we make a deal. [ female announcer ] almost nothing can dampen a baby's mood, when he wakes up dry in pampers.

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we're just five days away from the tax hikes, the spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff, but we are four days away from another financial challenge. that is the debt ceiling. now, compared to reaching your limit on your credit card essentially, treasury secretary

timothy geithner said the u.s. is going to reach its borrowing limit on monday. he says, quote, i am writing to inform you that the statutory debt limit will be reached on december 31st, 2012, and to notify you that the treasury department will shortly begin taking certain extraordinary measures authorized by law to temporarily postpone the date that the united states would otherwise default on its legal obligations. there is wiggle room. that is equivalent to two months of borrowing. now to the other financial crisis that could mean higher taxes for all of us. will congress send the country over the fiscal cliff or will they come up with some sort of deal and hit the brakes? the senate returned today hopefully to come up with some kind of deal. dana bash is flling this on capitol hill. i imagine we're all working over the holidays and i fess we're going to be working as long as they are working. hopefully they're going to get

something done. we heard from house speaker john boehner earlier today. where is this? clearly it looks like now it's in the senate's hands. >> that's right. it is absolutely in the senate's handings, has been effectively since the house speaker failed to pass his so-called plan b proposal last week. and so what is going on behind the scenes right now, suzanne, is the senate democratic leader is trying to figure out if he can cobable together enough votes, which would mean he would have to have probably significant crossover to get some votes to at least pass the bear bare minimum to ahouseholds with incomes of less than $200,000. >> the speaker has just a few days left to change his mind but i have to be very honest, mr.

president. i don't know time-wise how it can happen now. >> so there's a time issue because we're only five days away, but most importantly there's a political and process issue. the political issue we've talkeder this the last few days, suzanne. it's a question of whether or not there's enough lawmakers, willing to take the vote which would effectively be used by their opponents within their own party but across the aisle to say they took a vote of increased taxes. so that's the political issue. and then the process issue we're trying to figure out right now is if there is some kind of legislation that they can pass, probably just dealing with the tax issues, whether or not republicans will allow it in the senate to pass with a sim palma jort or whether it will have to be passed with what we see mideast pieces of legislation around here, a 60-vote threshold. that's being worked out as we

speak. republican leaders say we can't talk about it until we see the bill. >> dana, do we have any sense? are they optimistic or pessimistic that they're going to get something done, even if it's a stop gap measure, temporary measure before the new year? >> well, you just heard from senator reid he's pessimistic. i told you he's probably one of the biggest pes mists on the planet but i think in this particular case he has good reason to be pessimistic. the one thing that i think is important to also note is that what reid is telling people privately, i'm told, is that he doesn't want to bring anything up for a vote unlil he is sure it will pass both houses of congress and one of the reasons for that is a political one. he knows republicans won't want to take a vote to effectively increase taxes for that reason, to say i did it because i want to make sure most americans kept their tax cuts in place but also because of the markets. they really feel here if they take a failed vote and we still go over the fiscal cliff it will

make the market reaction even worse than it would be if the fiscal cliff just happens which is not going to be a good scene probably. >> dana, that ing you very much. we'll be back with you in a half hour. the adupgs of a russian child was almost complete. now an american couple is watching their dream crumble. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. [ tylenol bottle ] me too! and nasal co [ tissue box ] he said nasal congestion. yeah...i heard him. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪

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americans trying to adopt children from russia, they're on edge after president vat mir putipew signed a bill banning all adoptions to the u.s. he plans to study the final text of the adoption ban but right now he sees no reason why he should not sign it. if he does, the impact is certainly going to be felt here in the united states where hundreds of americans have

adoptions that are pending right now. rafael roma talked to a family in georgia. >> reporter: they describe him as the sweetest boy they ever met. they visited him a few months ago with the intention of adopting him. >> we know there's an orphan crisis particularly with children with special needs in that area of the world and that is something that we are open to, and the child that we are pursuing has down syndrome. >> reporter: but even though the process is nearly complete the moyers who link in georgia are facing what could be an insurmountable issue. president vat i mer putin is looking to sign it.

much more important let's focus on the children, what it means is those children will remain institutionalized. >> some see the russian bill as retaliation for new america law places financial restrigss on russians accused of human rights violations. it also denies them visas for travel to the united states. according to statistics by the united states department, the number of adoptions has increased significantly in 2004. in 2004 the number was more than 5, 800 compared to only 962 last year. only the last 22 years americans have adopted more than 60,000 russian children, more than any other country. >> we remain committed to supporting inter-country adoptions. it's too important to be linked to political aspects of our relationship. >> reporter: the bottom line, says this expert, it is ultimately the children who will suffer because there aren't enough families in russia

willing to adopt. >> there are some 700, 750 children in orphanages and institutionsrussia. they don't have that many families stepping up. >> we rely on our faith and our hope in jesus christ and that's what's going to get us through this, but, you know, it would be just devastating for those kids. >> the moyers already have two biological children, both boys and one adopted american girl. they say their children are just waiting for their brother to come home. rafael roma, cnn, the atlanta. >> our cnn correspondent knows how it is. tetiana has a story. really very moving, very touching. you were sent to an orphanage because you were born with spy

spine spina bifida. >> my life has changed. may of 1994 my life changed completely when my mom walked into that orphanage. i looked at her and said that is my mom. i -- if i wasn't adopted, i have no idea where i would be. i wouldn't be alive at age 23. being sponsor with spina bifida in russia, it's -- i wouldn't have survived past 10 and here i am now an olympic gold medalist and going to college, very independent young woman and it's -- you know, my family was willing to adopt, you know, a little girl with a disability and it's -- i mean i have no words to describe, you know, my feeling and being in a loving family. >> tatyana i understand you have your medals there at your desk

while you talk about your story. why is it, do you suppose, that russia does not do a better job in terms of dealing with folks who have challenges, whether it's physical challenges or mental challenges in these orphana orphanages? >> you know, i think it's -- it's difficult. american families aren't willing to adopt children with physical or, you know, mental disabilities. everyone need as home in reality. everyone need as home. and families just need the love and care from a family. and it's -- if this law is passed, i can't even describe how many lives would be ruined. i am so blessed for mine, and i'm here to speak for those who can't, for the voices who can't speak. and it's -- i have no words to

describe this. i mean my life has changed drastically because of just one adoption. >> tatyana, what do you think about the idea of encouraging more couples, russian couples and parents to adopt from those orphanages because there are a lot of americans -- there are orphans here and americans who need homes here in the united states and they go to russia. what do you think about promoting that idea, making it more part of the russian culture to adopt those children? >> i think no matter if it's an adoption from a american family or russian family, thing the children, they need a home, and when you look at family, you know, i -- people say, are you adoptebecause i look just like my mother, my adopted mother. and it's really funny and i came

all the way from russia. in reality, those children need a home, and right now the children are used as -- you know, this isn't fair for children. i know a family who's been trying to go over seven times to adopt their little boy, and the little boy is just there institutionalized without love and care. >> and tatyana, tell us a little bit about your own journey. i nope you're a pair a olympian and you've had amazing success in your own right here. >> yes. i am a three-time gold medalist and bronze medal. in london i ran the 100 meters, the 400 meters, 800 meters, 1,500 meters and the marathon and it was an unbelievable experience. 80,000 people in the stands

morning and night. it was an experience i will never forget. >> you are unbelievable. it's just incredible. you run circles around us. thank you is much. we appreciate it. we appreciate you telling us your story and we'll be following up on this to see if there's any change coming out of russia because of this. i know you're trying to bring forward a petition so this does not happen. thank you very much, tatyana. we appreciate it. >> thank you, thank you. doctors discharge nelson mandela from the hospital but his health problems are not over. we're going to have a life report from joe lanceburg. peop. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have six grams of sugars. with fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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former pretty george h.w. bush is still in the hospital. doctors are trying to bring down a stubborn fever. his fever was downgraded on sunday. he was admitted to the hospital november 23rd for bronchitis.

now his family says they are confident that he's going to be released soon from intensive care. and nelson mandela is out of the hospital. the 94-year-old former south african president was admitted to a hospital in pretoria. that was 18 days ago. he was treated for a lung infection and underwent gal stone surgery. rob robin kerr now is reporting outside of his home in johannesburg. in this house watched by local media nelson mandela is no doubt resting. after 19 days his doctors sent him home here to his johannesburg residence. while this is good news, they're saying he's still receiving high care which means behind these walls his doctors and nurses are still closely monitoring and observing him. while in hospital mandela was treated for a lung infection and had surgery to remove galstones

and these are the most recent pictures only him taken in july by cnn at his 94th birthday party in 'tis home surrounded by his large family. but he looked bewildered and didn't smile. so different to the vigorous man who fought so hard, endured so much. other recent years, though, the former south african president has seemed frail and unsteady on his legs. public appearances became increasingly rare. just too much effort for a man in his 90s. those he did make, mandela sometimes dozed off during speeches and seemed confused. he's mostly spent his time at this home in the eastern cape. soothed by the slow pace of the rural rhythms in the hills near his boyhood village and it's unclear whelp and if he'll return back to his primary residence here. for now, though, south africans are just relieved that he's out

of hospital. >> mandela, he's alive. >> i can see that. >> i'm worried about this. at least if he can manage to reach at least it, that would be grateful. >> reporter: a man who gave so much and who is still so deeply revered by anxious south africans. you just wish him well. >> i want to bring in robin. robin, i was in south africa a couple of months ago. many still see him as their leader and father of the country. how do they feel now? there must be emotion knowing that he's out of the hospital at least. do they think that he's getting any better? >> reporter: we've chatted over the last few weeks while he's been in hospital. and south africans as you say call him a faefrmt nelson

mandela's life is essentially a life of south africa's struggle for freedom, so it's not just a struggle for freedom. people have this sort of intimate relationship with him. no doubt huge relief when people heard that he was out of hospital, that he had been sent home. in terms of how he settled in in his johannesburg home, we're unclear. there haven't been any updates from the presidency. a little bit of caution might be needed here because the presidential spokesperson has said that he's not completely recovered and the reason he's been sent to his johannesburg residents in the city rather than his rural residence in the countryside is faye have quick and easy access to the rural hospitals 678 so there's still the hit if his health changes he might be readmitted. on one hand, much cause for celebration. on the other hand south africans realize he ease still frail, still sickly.

>> robyn, thank you. we wish him well. whether you're traveling by plane, train, or automobile, if you're in the northeast, you're going to be delayed. so all my stuff's always right there in real-time. it's like the ultimate personal assistant. but i'm me, and me needs handlers. so i hired todd to handle it for me. todd, gimme that hollywood news! what's happening on twitter? you're trending! yes! you can't have a todd, but you can have your own personal assistant. i guess you could call it todd. [ male announcer ] the new nokia lumia 920 with live tiles that deliver what you want in real time. only from at&t. rethink possible. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage.

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at advaircopd.com. major winter storm hammering the northeast. getting heaviest snow, much of it even a foochlt ines ferre ray is in syracuse, new york. ines, tell us about the conditions. a lot of snow behind you, i see. >> reporter: yeah, that right, suzanne. we're still seeing flurries but nothing compared to what we've seen this morning. this is snow that's been taken off the roadways here on the side and you can see also some mountains of snow right behind me. i'm in downtown syracuse right next to an ice rink and what the city is doing is taking all the snow, putting it into trucks and clearing it out of here. they' they've had plows work 1g 2-hour

shifts working throughout the day to make sure they clear these streets. all of the snow is out of here. this is, of course, a headache for airline travels, however, this is happening during a week when people are on holiday. a lot of people aren't going into the office, so a lot of offices are closed and schools are closed as well, suzanne. >> you know, folks in syracuse, they're used to a lot of snow here. is this fazing them at all or has life shifted a little bit for the holidaying? >> reporter: yes. well, central and northern new york, right, they're used to a lot of snow. they have ski resorts here. i had one local who tweeted me they call it a storm, we call it thursday. the challenge is when you have so much snow that false in such a short period of time, so plows have to work extra. they have to work overtime and it's been almost two years since syracuse has seen a foot of snow all in one shot, suzanne.

>> all right, ines. it can be a little bit of safety but it is a lot of fun in snow too. i love it. thank you very much. i appreciate it. they have a passion for fashion and they love to show it auchlt we're going to introduce you to the group known as les super in the democratic republic of congo. she knows you like no one else. and you wouldn't have it any other way. but your erectile dysfunction - you know, that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis.

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so this started as an act of rebellion. when gangs face off they use dance moves and designer moves. we're shown what it's all about. ♪ >> reporter: high fashion in the streets. it may seem out of place in a city suffering from widespread pover poverty. but to these men survive is the

point. known as les sapeurs, after independence from belgium in 1960 a new group emerged, snapping up the latest fashions and returning homes. these new clothes representing a new societal ambition of free m freedom. the trend became a movement. >> let me intro dice you to the leader, the boss of this crew of les sapeurs. this is papa grin. great to have you and your crew spend siem time with us. my first question because i feel underdressed, what are you wearing? i recently spoke to papa wemba and he says this movement what the helped create is not just

about having money and nice clothes but it's about an attitude as well. so what is the les sapeurs attitude? >> anybody can be dressed up but to be superb you must have a lot of money. roughly translated, sapiurs meaning a society of ambitious people. why do you think people like you? >> translator: for me it is a job so i respect my job as you respect your journalism as does the cameraman. >> reporter: as a final question how far or how close am i to looking like one of you, les sapeurs? >> translator: impossible. >> impossible. >> not even close. >> no.

>> okay. >> reporter: let me explain what's happening here. so some les sapeurs have arrived and tla irabout to fight. i use quotation marks because they're not going to use weapons. they're going to use their labels and their moves to show who's really on top. this man arrived alone but still faced off gesturing and sauntering around. so to protect their collective reputations, they had to respond. however, under the watchful eye of papa, they left their disputes on the table. despite 15 small eruptions since tuesday hundreds of farmers will not leave their homes.

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i have a sad update on the 60-foot whale that washed up on the beach in queens, new york. officials say it has died. biologists say they'll examine the fin body and decide why. then they'll decide what to do, bury it on the beach or tow it out to sea. >> people are being ordered to evacuate their homes. british reports say 1,500 farmers are refusing to leave. they say troops are being deployed to the area to try to change the farmers' minds. take a look at this eruption. on sunday officials issued a red alert, the severest warning, fearing it will have a major eruption. finally check out this alabama football fan? he thinks the gift is a hat, but the real present is what's

inside. >> that's right they're going to the game. the game is not cheap. the game is sold out. you'll pay at lease a thousand bucks for a nosebleed seat. good for him, congratulations. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome to cc nn news "cnn newsroom." i'm suzanne malveaux. we're talking about the tack increases, the spending cuts that make up the fiscal cliff. president obama, he cut his christmas vacation short to deal with this crisis.

he arrived back from hawaii just a short time ago, and the senate also returning to work today hoping to come up with some kind of agreement. but time is running out. jessica yellin, she has the latest from the white house. we've got dana bash following the developments on capitol hill. i want to start off with you, dana. what do we know about a possible compromise on the senate siepd what they might be proposed in fairly short order? >> compromise, i'm not so sure we'll see that. but i was told by a republican senator and democratic senator that the pr indicated before he left for hawaii that he, the president, is expected to send a piece of legislation up today with his scaled back tax plan. that's something that the president outlined in general terms on the friday before he left for hawaii and since then what we've been hearing from republicans, particularly mitch mcconnell's office is we can't

talk about whether we can pass anything until we actually see the legislation. so our understanding from these sources who are familiar with the call and familiar with the process is that the president will put the plan in legislate lative language. what is the plan? the president's tax plan he campaigned on for five years which is to let the tax plan expire for households making less than $250,000. he would add unemployment insurance. the thinking here is he would potentially also add extending the estate tax cut. the estate tax has been at a relatively low level. it expires also at the ipd of the year. but, you know, this is all you know, to'ing and fro'ing right now to see if it's possible to pass anything to keep most americans' taxes where they are before the end of the year when everybody's tax go up.

>> we heard from senator reid earlier today. they were dealing, in his words, with a dictatorship. are we expected to hear from him or any of the players from the hill in terms of trying to move this forward, whether it's publicly, in the public arena or privately? >> we are. we're told we should expect to hear from the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. the senate is in and he will likely take to the floor we're told and give a status report from his perspective. what we're talking about right now in the senate is whether or not the democrats if that i do attempt to pass something, if they're going to have to get to the 60-vote threshold, meaning if they're going to need to break a filibuster or if the senate rupp leader mitch mcconnell will be able to get agreement from his republican conference to have a sim palma jort vote. that's what they're talking about right now. it's important to emphasize that senator reid has told people

privately if he does not think that any legislation like the one the president is sending up today can pass both the senate and the house he doesn't want to bring it up because he doesn't want to, a, make people walk the planch politically and, b, spook the markets even more with a failed vote. >> thank you. i want to bring in jessica here. the president landed two hours ago. what is he doing behind the scenes or will he do something publicly to mv this forward? >> reporter: well, suzanne, there's no public event for him planning. i don't expect to see him out today. dana is reporting he's going to send something up to the hill. it might no be a piece of written legislation. perhaps it could be his proposed basic terms which he laid out last week and is sort of an understanding up on capitol hill and the white house. the bottom line, i should make it clear, that we have not confirm thad here at the white house.

it has been silence on our end as they are no doubt working privately behind closed doors. they do not want to leak anything at this point, as you know, in these kinds of -- at this sort of stage when things are so dell can't. they don't like to talk to us at all, suzanne. so right now -- >> not surprising. >> reporter: right? all the discussions are going on between them and capitol hill. but the bottom line from the white house's perspective is we know what the president will not do and that is he will not agree to raise taxes or keep taxes low on the upper income americans. that's the one absolute he's made clear is nonnegotiable. so they have to fiechbld a way to come to terms that -- the bottom line for the white house, senator mcconnell arguing they have to agree not to filibuster and has to get all his members

not filibuster. can he do that? it's a big unknown. >> all right. jess. thank you very much. we're going to be watching very closely. both sides say they want to avoid the tax increases to avoid the fiscal cliff. they can't seem to get past the blame game here. if there's no deal, how is it going to work, how are they going to feel? people are struggling. i want to bring in our cnn contributor john avlon about this. john, it's a game we keep playing over and over. they come to the very edge and they get something done. we're talking five days now which seems pretty pathetic. do we anticipate that this is -- this is going to be worked out, even if it's the last minute, last minute, that something is going to get done? >> i mean that is the hope. you hope for the best but prepare for the worst. and there's been an increased tone of pessimism on capitol hill.

harry reid said late last night he wondered if there was enough time to get this done. we've known this cliff was coming for months and yet the capitol hill in washington seems to be taking this at the last minute hoping they can throw a hail mary in the last couple of days. they haven't been talking or dealing. the president's apparently going to put forward some kind of a scaled down plan. that is not good news for anybody. >> john, we know we've heard from a florida congresswoman earlier from cnn who talks about there is such gridlock it's very difficult to even imagine how that would be unlocked. i want you to hear what she said. >> it's about scoring political points. i know the american people are tired of that. they're tired of all of us, i understand that. we make used car salesmen look

good. that is the on group that's b w below us, but we've got to get our act together and prove to the american people they can regain the trufrt they once had in us and get the job done and as you say, not kick the can down the road. they want us to really work this out. i hope we do. >> what do you think, john? do you think there's the possibility of working that out? >> look. there's that possibility. we've been close to a deal before. monday of last week it looks like president obama and john boehner were coming closer. that's what's required to get something done. everyone's got to give a little bit and the extremes on both sides might not like it but that's the only way we're going to break this gridlock. here's the problem. with only a couple of days left in the calendar and the special centers arguing that many of them, no deal is bad deal, that kind of kmorn ground looks further and further. the real tragedy, the real

absurdity is we were told nothing would get done, kick the can to the lame duck and because the politicians would be free from the free election, they could find a reason to gaerg together that. hasn't happened. i hope the people listen to the congresswoman but there's not a lot of room for rationalism. >> john, real quick. if this does not get worked out, what's the potential impact? >> this is not just about washington pearalysis. if you're family, maired with no children under the age of 55 and you make $65,000 a year, your taxes are going to get hiked by $2,000. if you make $106,000, your taxes are going to be increased overnight by $4,200. that could take the economy and push it back into a recession from the recovery we were finally beginning to enjoy.

this is not academic, folks. this is your wall oat, your money we're talk about. >> thanks for spelling it out, keeping it real. five days. we're talking about five days. thank you, john. almost two weeks after a funman shot and kill 20d children and six adoubts the gun debate still continues. the national rival association wants to see armed guards in every school. today david keene defended the idea in an exclusive interview on cnn. >> we're not urging that teachers be armed but in some schools teachers are armed today and the if the school districts and teachers want to do it that way, that's up to them but what should happen is in every school district, teachers and parents should sit down and ask what's needed to protect them.

others will want plivgs, others will want private security guards, volunteers to do it. we're willing to work with everybody on those questions. >> in utah today 200 teachers are going to be begin training on carrying concealed weapons in their classroom. and in arizona they're proposed that principals be armed. tell us, first of all, about your proposal. what you think will help keep your schools safe. >> well, i'm trying to find the golden mean. on the one hand people proposed letting teachers in general bring guns to school when they want tochl i believe that would create more dangers thauld would solve. on the other hand, we shouldn't do nothing. my proposal is to designate one person, a principal or someone he designates and we're offering

to give him training in marksmanship, judgment, when not to shoot, when to shoot, how to secure the gun in safe place, to give intensive training. i've offered to given that training free. so that there will be one person on campus trained to deal with it. >> what happens if you put all this investment and training in a person who at the time is not there at the time of a potential school shooting? >> it may be after we trained one person per school we may look to more than one person, but we're starting with one person because of the number of schools we have. i've got 36 investigators who are sworn police officers. three sheriffs have agreed to per tase pate. depending on how many we can train, we're doing it for a fee.

>> isn't this a slippery slope though? you look at the past situation. there was an armed guard at columbine when the gunman opened fire. at virginia tech there was the university police force that was responding. i mean there didn't seem to be evidence because people are armed that it necessarily stops violence in schools. >> no it doesn't necessarily and there's no obvious solution but it would be a shame if somebody went into a school and started shooting people and shot a lot of people over a continuous time if somebody could have stopped them with a gun who was trained and knew how to use it and that would be a terrible tragedy. i wouldn't want to have a tragedy occur. what we do has to be sensible. so i don't want to go to the extreme of having teachers in general do it. i'm looking for the perfect middle ground where you do what you can to solve the situation

but you don't create more problems than you're solving. >> i want to bring in this statement. they're opposed to any plan that would arm a teacher or somebody inside of the school. this is -- this is what the president randi weingarten had to say. that schools must be sanctuaries, not armed fortresses. anyone who would suggest other ooiz doesn't understand that our public schools must first and foremost be places where teachers can safely educate and nurture or students. there doesn't seem to be an appetite or a lot of forces when it comes to teachers p introduces winnepeg inside of the schools. >> i think they were dealing with the proposals to have teachers in general be able to bring guns to school whenever they want to and they see that as a danger, and i also see that

as a danger. i want to provide free training to deal with a situation that might arise. we would like them to be safe sanctuaries but we found out that sometimes a bad guy can penetrate and you want someone that can deal with it in that case. i'm not requiring that of anybody. if they do want it, i'm offering it as a free service we will provide to the schools. >> all right. thank you very much. we appreciate your contribution to the debate. going nowhere fast, holiday travel now on hold as a wet and nasty winter storm slamming the midwest. plus, shoppers running for their lives when a shark tank shatters at a mall. [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long...

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heavy snow, driving rain, fees winds have it all. it's creating severe driving conditions from washington, d.c. to maine. it is no better traveling by air. about 2,000 flights have been canceled over the last two days. northern new york getting some of the heaviest snow, as much as a foot. ines ferre, she's in syracuse, new york, where there is a lot of snow there.

hey, i ines, how are you doing? >> reporter: hi, suzanne. you can see some of the snow pile behind me. this is knee from a nearby ice rink and snow from the streets. what the city is doing is piling all the snow, putting it into trucks and taking it and clearing it out of the area from downtown syracuse. now, for the city, they've had plows coming in through here in 12-hour shifts throughout the evening and throughout the day. it's been almost two years since syracuse has seen a foot of snow all in one shot, suzanne. >> how is the travel? you say there are some cars getting around there. are people able to move about or is it kind of slow going? >> reporter: they are moving about even though governor cuomo is asking people if they don't have to travel to not be on the

streets schl if streets. for a lot of people, they're used to this. one said this is wintertime for us. there are ski resorts so they welcome this kind of weather. a lot of people will be skiing today, suzanne. >> we see a lot of people having fun too. thank you so much. i want to bring in chad meyer. it's not severe weather. it's syracuse weather. it's upstate new york, they get snow. how badly is it to get around and move around today in light of all the snow that's piling up? >> yeah. when the lake-effect snow machine really fires up and you get extremes of heavy snow, that's when you get stranded. the people of buffalo -- i grew up right there, right there. there is more snow here. the bulk of it has moved up to

vermont and maine and new brunswick, canada there. still a significant day for snow but not in the places that really we're going to make travel really, really treacherous for many people. some of the people want snow because they want to play in it. watch what you ask for. sometimes when you ask for snow from maine to new brunswick, that's 20 inches of snow that's going to come down in the next 48 hours. the ocean now -- it's almost like ocean effect. the ocean is still very warm, melted, not frozen. it's picking up that water, moisture from the ocean and throwing it on land in the form of big heavy snow. >> all right. chad, i grew up in the d.c. area, and just an inch of snow and we were off of school. >> i worked for the weather service. one inch of snow on the beltway, forget it. you're not going anywhere. >> cold weather is to blame for

this, causing this enormous fish tank to suddenly crack and shatter. this is an aquarium. this happened in shanghai, ch a china. this is massive. 33 tons of acrylic, glad, throwing live sharks in the street. dozens hurt and all the fish died. what officials thing is cold air on the outside, warm water on the inside. is this kind of like when you have a glass, you put it in the dishwasher, it's hot and you pour something cold in it? how do we compare this? >> certainly you can use this analogy. because we had the cold air that came in the format of a cold front, not a margarita, the cold front, that was on one side of the glass. that was trying to contract the glass on that side because cold air makes things track like a thermometer. the mercury goes down.

on the other side of the glass, the water was still warm where the sharks were swimming so you have one getting warmer and the glass didn't like that at all and you can see that glass had been there two years now. ten inches thick and people got hurt. they got cut by this glass. >> yeah. i mean this is the good thing that this is kind of the things that normally don't happen. >> the atlanta aquarium is the most amazing place. they have a huge picture window. 30 feet tall and 80 feet wide and you look at it and go, wow, i hope the glass stays back there. but the glass is like 36 images thick. obviously the strength of materials is good enough in the other aquariums. obviously you don't hear about it very ouchb. >> yeah. thank god. there are a lot of times you say, siem glad they're on the other side. he has been in the houston hospital for more than a month

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he was hoping to be home by christmas, but former president george h.w. bush is still in afternoon intensive care unit at a houston hospital. the former president has been there since november 23rd. migue miguel, how is he doing? >> reporter: well, his condition is guarded in intensive care and his spokesman said the reason they put him in intensive care is because doctors want to keep track of several things going on with the former president. he ha been here for a lit over a month. he is 8 years old. he has a fever he can't quite kick. they're treating it with things like tylenol and other things. it's not that serious. a family spokesman said he's in

good spirits and getting better and is expected to get out soon, suzanne. >> do we know who's there at the hospital with him? >> his family lives here. his wife barbara, dorothy, grandsons. he has friends and family comes through the doors and still able to see him, you know, surrounded by folks he's known for many years in houston. >> miguel, do we have any sense of when he might be released? >> that is the big question. it's very tough for him because he came in in the beginning of november for physical therapy due to an unrelated condition and went home for thanksgiving and checked in with a bronchial condition. he hasn't been able to kick it. now the fever's kicked in. they're saying soon. they're hoping he can get out and move on with his life. the reason they put him in icu,

again, is s again, is so they can keep track of him more finely and minutely and get him back home very soon. suzanne? >> we wish him the best in his recovery. thanks, miguel. hosni mubarak is being moved. mubarak's lawyer tells cnn that his client fell this month in a prison bathroom, breaking some ribs and hurting his head. mubarak's lawyer didn't say anything else about the former president's health. hosni mubarak ruled egypt for 30 years until his overthrow last year. he's serving life in prison for his role in the killing of demonstrators during egypt's revolution. and nelson mandela is out of the hospital. the 94-year-old former south african president was admitted to a johannesburg hospital. he was treated for a lung infecti

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well, the talk has been about the fiscal cliff, but there's something else to worry about. that's the debt ceiling. tim thigh geithner says the u.s. is going to hit its legal borrowing limit on monday. alison kosik is in new york. al ison, what are the possible consequences can have. >> it would cause a whole host of consequences. what afternoon happens here we often talk about the debt ceiling and people's eyes glaze over. i want to talk about what the debt ceiling is. it's a cap, set by congress, the amount of money that if federal

government can borrow. the current creeling is at $16.3 trillion and what secretary treasurer tim geithner said we could hit it on monday, meaning new year's eve and what the treasury will start doing is using extraordinary measuring to keep the government from going over the limits. so let's say for example you're a government worker. that could mean that the government could go into your pension. then what could happen if we do go through the creeling? well, the treasury won't be able to pay the country's bills in full or on time and that means the u.s. could default on some obligations. it would cripple the economy, send markets into the tail spin. that could hit retimer savings or anything you have in the marketplace plus it would make it more difficult for bangs the give out loans for things you're looking to get like cars or student loans. pile on top of that government benefits. i'm talking about social

security checks and military payments. who could forget what happens when lawmakers raised the debt ceiling last summer but not until the last minute. that caused a credit downgrade for the u.s. and a huge selloff for the market. the thing is, suzanne, it could come down to the wire once again, yet another nail-biter. suzanne? >> a >>al >> alison, it could cause a ripple effect. >> yeah, but the markets won't take that well. it's more of the saving kick the can down the road. if there's band-aid measure that goes in, that's not what the market is going to necessarily see. they want to see something stronger with the if is cal cliff and the debt ceiling as well and it seems that everything is sort of being held hostage in the whole fiscal cliff discussions and the debt ceiling has become part of that as well. suzanne. >> the president is saying he's not going to allow that to

happen. there are other headlines we're keeping our eye on for this thursday. others filing benefits actually went down last week. there were 350,000 of them, that's 12,000 fewer than the week before. that's the lowest level in more than four years. the drop was bigger. home prices posted their biggest jump in more than two years. the gains, rather, clearly trending higher. rising more than 4% since october. toyota has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit over sudden acceleration issues. so about 16 million issues are going to be covered by the settlement. the model years range from 1998 to 2010. under the p, toyota is going to install a brake override system. it's going to set up a fond to compensate owners for their reduced value due to all the bad

publicity, and president obama is going to have another cabinet position to fill. we have learned today that the epa administrator lisa jackson will step down after the president's "state of the union" speech in january. had a chance to talk with jackson last month about her role in the department and how she sees her future. >> and if you ask the average american, stripping the politics away, are you for it, what does it mean to live in america, they'll say i have clean water, clean air to drink and i have a right to go to the community. >> you still have folks like newt gingrich who says the epa, get rid of the epa. these are job creators, regulators, how do you confront republicans like newt gingrich who put that out there by saying i don't think that should exist. >> you know, moms across the

country are speaking up right now saying we need stronger stands for soot. the results were overwhelming. we did a proposed rule to deal with greenhouse gases from new power plant. we got three million comments largely in favor. so i think it's easy to say, think right now the american people rightfully want their government to be efficient. they don't want it to waste money. they want to know that they're getting something when you have a regulatory agency, we should regulate smartly. we shouldn't be oppressive. we should be smart about it but we shouldn't go away. >> how do you attract businesses and private money and investment in private investment and the environment. >> i've been doing this almost 23 years we need certainty. we want to invest our money, but

we want to know the rules aren't going to challenge. if carbon's the bag thing, that i'm not going to be disadvantaged if i'm clean. don't put me on a player field that's harder for me to compete. >> what's your plan for the second term? are you sticking around? >> what i can say is i'm very limited. we have so much work to do. >> in a statement president obama says jackson has shown an unwavering commitment to the health of our families and our children. so russia may soon ban adoptions by americans. many are opposing the ban including this young whom tells me her own inspire i story about her adoption. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

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[ male announcer ] the sprint drive first app. blocks and replies to texts while you drive. we can live without the &. visit sprint.com/drive. well, if itmr. margin?margin. don't be modest, bob. you found a better way to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll. that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know. americans trying to adopt children from russia are understandably on edge after

president vladimir putin indicated today he'll sign a bill banning all u.s. adoptions. he plans to study the final text of the adoption ban but right now he sees no reason why he would not sign this. earlier i talked with a woman who was adopted from a russian orphanage. tatyana mcfadden. >> if this bill is signed i can't imagine how many lives would be ruined. i'm so blessed for mine, and i'm here for the voices who can't speak. and it's -- i have no words to describe this. i mean my life has changed drastically because of just one adoption. >> if pr putin signs the law

it's going to go into effect january 1st. stories that affect "your bottom line" from the facebook offering to the new applebaum and the fiscal cliff. we're going to take look at the biggest money stories of the year. over the next 50 years we need more food produced in the last 10,000 years combined. it's staggering to think where is it going to come from? we're pushing all the food on land and seed food shortages wchl need to open up new frontiers for farming. ♪ [ male announcer ] this december, remember what starts with adding a friend, ♪ ♪

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three, two, one r, and liftoff. >> may 2012. spacex launched a rocket. it marked a new beginning. private companies instead of nasa sending cargo instead of humans to the station. it was one of the space industry's top accomplishments and one of the top scientific and technological breakthroughs of 2012. some might say 2012 was washington versus the rest of us, stock markets, unemployment, house price all up as lawmakers failed to get their act together. here are the top stories that caught the attention of cnn correspondent christine romans and chief correspondent ali

velshi. >> number 10, apple, the first year without steve jobs. they still invent things we didn't know we needed that we would buy faster than anything that's been sold in personal technology than ever before. number nine, the u.s. stock market. despite all those worries about the fiscal cliff and maybe slower growth in the u.s. economy, the stock market has had a great year. too bad you missed out. the smart money's been in the market. the rest of us have been worried about the fiscal cliff. >> number eight, facebook's ipo. hundreds of millions of people like facebook but investors did not on its first day as a public company. trading glitches at the nasdaq and questions about the company's ability to make money on mobile users pummeled the stock which has yet to climb its way back to its ipo price. >> number seven, mother meyer, the new ceo of yahoo!.

37 years old. looks like a mother's touch is just exactly what yahoo! needed. >> number six, mother nature. an intense drought in the midwest that scorched the soy and corn crop sending prices sky high. who could forget superstorm sandy. neighborhoods swept away, millions without power and damages as high as $50 billion, raising lots of questions about u.s. infrastructure and whether we should be spending some money to fix it. >> number five, china. is china slowing, or is china leading the world? we do know that china will be the biggest economy in the world by 2020, for sure by 2030. >> china. >> china. >> china. >> china. >> china getting more than a few mentions during the presidential campaign probably because it's pretty clear that china is both a competitor and a partner. >> number four, europe. the european union was fractured by too much debt and the austerity plans to fix it.

that saga is far from over.er t market. low price bottomed out set off a building and buying spree. they ended up buying entire neighborhoods but first-time buyers were able to get a home for the first time in years as long as they had a hefty down payment. >> number two. >> cnn predicts president obama will be elected president of the united states sniet was more about socialism and capitalism, spending and cutting, about what kind of role government should have in your life. >> number one is the fiscal cliff. lawmakers saw it coming but didn't bother to pay any attention to coming and didn't bother to pay any attention until after the election. had they dealt with it earlier, who knows how strong the u.s. economy would be right now.

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we want to go directly to the white house. jessica yellen has new reporting. we know the president returned from his vacation early from hawaii to work on possible negotiations of winning the fiscal cliff. what do we know about what will take place today? >> hi. i can tell you the white house said the president does not plan to send up any proposal to capitol hill today. he is not intending to outline his scaled back agreement for averting the fiscal cliff in an effort to get the two sides to pass something before the end of the week and we enter the new year. we do know that the outlines of what the democrats believe can pass are pretty clear. we have reported on this extensively and made it

well-known that the senate side believes what they are likely to be able to propose would be a sort of measure that includes extending tax cuts for people below $250,000 and extending the patch that makes it clear that people who have the minimum tax patch, some sort of fix and extension of unemployment benefits and a sweetener for the republicans that would include an estate tax provision. we don't know. it's not the president's style to write anything down and send up a bill. white house officials making it clear he was not going to break with tradition and start doing that today. we will see if there was a way to unstick things and get an agreement in the next few days. >> all right. keep up the excellent reporting. you and dana, this is

incremental, but as long as it's towards resolving this, that is what everybody is looking for. thank you again. we want to bring another story here. take a look at this. crazy. chaos at a california mall. we will tell you why all of this happened.

>>ar officials in nicaragua are not taking any chances. they're ordering people who live near a voll capo to evacuate homes. 1500 farmers are refusing to leave. troops are being deployed to the area to try to change the farmers's minds. take a look at this eruption on the border of argentina and chile. on sunday they issued a red alert, the most severe warning fearing the volcano would have a major eruption.